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Beginning the Garfield


hsouthard

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Hi from the Houston area of Texas,

I just purchased the Garfield and patiently waiting for it arrive. I've read many many comments about the building of the Garfield and a lot of people have complained about the directions. All of the complaints were from years ago (2008/2009) and was curious if Greenfield has updated the directions at all. Most of the complaints were that the directions were hard to follow/understand but everyone has their ways of learning.

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Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your Garfield.

As far as I know, the info on the instruction sheets has not changed. The #1 thing to cross off the sheet is the reference to using hot glue. It is NOT recommended as a permanent construction glue. It's okay for tacking things or using on shingles but not sturdy over the long haul for construction seams. You need a good wood glue or tacky glue for that.

Mine are from the early 1980's and I found them adequate to follow. I'm a tad independent anyway and kind of do things my own way.

Dry fitting with painters tape is another really important step in the process. It will help you determine any changes you want to make as well as scoping out the areas that are hard to reach after construction - thus requiring some attention ahead of time. One of those areas is the front entry corner on all three levels. Wiring and decorating first is highly recommended.

Hope you will start an album and share your progress with the members. It's a great way to keep track of things plus we all love eye candy.

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Thank you.

I've done a lot of reading and looking through numerous photos. I've never been a fan of hot glue and know from experience it doesn't hold up long. But thank you for the heads up on dry fitting. I've seen both types: people just building without decorating/painting first and those decorating/painting rooms as they go. Seeing from pictures where the staircase is getting back to those rooms to decorate/paint would hard to do so having the heads up about dry fitting and decorating those rooms will certainly be taken into consideration when constructing. I will definitely be starting an album with progress. I enjoyed looking at others progess so I figured I would do the same. Thanks again!

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Welcome from me too Heather, I don't know the Garfield........aside from some of the amazing builds I've seen on here but I'm with Selkie on the dry build.......that's the time you really get to know the house and that's often the one opportunity you get to prepare for what later would become a real trial!

We are both starting out.......my new project arrives tomorrow........let's have fun!

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Thanks Mike. The house should be here next week but I'm preparing myself by looking into ours and trying to get everyone's intake on the trials that go into building.

I'm a perfectionist so the dry build will be a definite before any glue is put into play. Good Luck on your project.

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Welcome to the fun,Heather! I don't know anything about the Garfield,except that it looks like an awesome house,but here's a really great building blog by one of our members,Gina. Can't wait to see your progress!~Kat

http://moreminis.blogspot.com/2009/03/garfield-day-1.html#.VJODlP8APA

I just finished reading the entire blog about the Garfield and it was so helpful, thank you again!

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